By Brian Homewood BERNE (Reuters) - FC Basel struck a rare blow for teams from Europe's smaller leagues, who often find themselves overwhelmed by their richer rivals from the "Big Five", with their 1-0 Champions League win over Chelsea on Tuesday. UEFA reserves five places in the group stage for champions of Europe's lower-ranked leagues, who have to play their way through a marathon qualifying competition held in July and August. Basel, Viktoria Plzen, Steaua Bucharest, Celtic and Austria Vienna made it to the group stages this year and, generally, their presence has served to illustrate the widening gulf between Europe's haves and have-nots. Apart from Basel, the other four are all bottom of their respective groups and eliminated with a game to go, with Plzen, Steaua and Austria Vienna yet to muster a win between them.
via Sports News Headlines - Yahoo News UK http://uk.news.yahoo.com/basel-strike-blow-europes-smaller-leagues-110130198--sow.html
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